Traffic Lights
by TiredOfBeingNice
Summary: "Time was running out, and the green light was dimming." A one shot about the rise and fall of Ethan Morgan, and his friendship with Benny Weir, ending in unresolved disagreements and loose strings. *Set after Three Geeks and a Demon


_Traffic Lights_

 _By: TiredOfBeingNice_

* * *

 _Time was running out, and the green light was dimming._

Ethan watches as Benny pulls the string on the leaf blower. He rolls his eyes in slight frustration, the pressure of the situation starting to affect him—it's not like they couldn't rush to save his sister from an evil demon possessing their babysitter.

"Did you check the fuel?" he asks anxiously.

Sensing the tension in his voice, Benny looks at Ethan with a rather annoyed look.

"Yes, I checked the fuel, I already told you _twice_ that I filled it up," Benny snaps, matching the same tone as Ethan's. Rory watches the situation unfold as Benny tries his hand at pulling the string again. Ethan sighs.

"Uh, maybe the cup-lings you made for the tubing are malfunctioning," Ethan says with frustration evident in his voice. Benny's head falls back, and he puts his hands on the table and leans towards his friend.

"Oh, here we go. So everything I make is faulty, but everything _you_ make is golden?"

Ethan frowns, then stops what he's doing to face Benny.

"You know, I don't like your tone!" Ethan says, looking even more annoyed.

Benny cocks his head forward. "Oh _really?_ "

Ethan sighs. "Yes, 'really', you always get so defensive whenever—"

"Defensive?" Benny cuts him off. "Defensive. Really? You're pulling _that_ card right now?"

"I am pulling that card right now!" Ethan yells. Rory tries to intervene, waving his hands to catch his attention, but Benny isn't having any of it.

"You know, if you actually _helped_ me with the cup-lings, _Mr. Golden Boy,_ it wouldn't be malfunctioning!"

"Jesus, Benny, you always find some way to blame it on me, do you?!" Ethan's sudden scream stuns Benny into silence, and makes Rory jump a bit.

Benny takes a breath, anxiety creeping up in his throat. "Okay, Ethan, let's calm down—"

"No, I won't calm down!" Ethan yells, slamming his fists on the table. Benny's breath hitches, and Rory sees the spellmaster stiffen. "For God's sake, why can't you just man up a little and owe up instead of being a defensive little brat! _Who the hell raised you?!_ "

Benny frowns.

" _Alexander Weir, you are found guilty for domestic violence and the death of Annabelle Weir, and is subjected to 10 years in jail, and is not allowed the have custody of his son, Benjamin Weir, for the rest of his life. The jury is thanked and excused; case adjourned."_

Benny's silence makes Ethan realize where he went wrong. Rory stands there, a bit oblivious to what had just happened, and Ethan desperately tries to cover up.

"B-Benny, I-I meant—"

"No you didn't," Benny snaps. "It doesn't matter. What matters is that we get this goddamn piece of equipment up and running, and we save your sister."

Benny pulls on the string again in hopes of hearing it roar to life, but to his disappoint, it was silent once again. Rory took a peek at it, and frowned, flicking a switch.

"Guys, it was off." Rory's voice was quiet and meek, and he shuffled back. Ethan frowned, turning around with a sharp force that made his protective goggles fall slide down from his hair to cover his eyes.

Benny seems more annoyed than embarrassed, and he pulls it again, the engine roaring and starting up. The Cubile Animus glows a little, and Ethan fakes a smile.

"Good job!" he says over the loud noise, reaching over to pat Benny's back. Benny's eyes dart towards his hand and he reels back, as if he was about to be burnt.

A moment of silence amongst the engine's roar makes Ethan realize that the situation was slightly more serious than he thought.

...

Benny tries not to let the incident from before bother him. He still cracked some jokes and some lame battle-cries when sucking the demon out of Sarah and into the Cubile Animus, and he acts as casual as possible when Ethan's dad is talking to them in the end of it all, even though his presence makes Benny feel more sad than anything else; a father that actually _cared?_ The idea was blasphemy to him.

Rory left later in the night, and so did Sarah. Jane went to bed, along with her parents, and Benny, unlike regular Fridays, was gathering his stuff so he could leave without a word. He planned, of course, to cry the whole night in his pillow, listening to angry music and the demons' words that would cause him to question every move he made.

The planning of a night like this was completely normal for Benny: his grandma isn't home at times, so he has the house to his own to get depressed, have a panic attack every now and then without a big fuss, and become nostalgic thinking about a life without a taunting voice in his head. Sure, it wasn't the _best_ thing to think about all the time, and it wasn't healthy, but it was just how Benny coped; better than expressing his emotions to someone, especially if that someone was Ethan.

Speaking of which, he sees the brunette in his view. He avoids all eye-contact, but that doesn't stop Ethan from approaching him.

"You leaving?" Ethan asks as casually as he can, trying to drain all the disappointment out of his voice. "But it's Friday. We always have sleepovers on Fridays, since your grandma isn't home."

"Well not tonight." Benny keeps his head low as he grabs his school bag. "I would like to leave tonight and sleep at my house _alone_ tonight."

His words slice through Ethan's chest, and he can already see—without the vision part, mind you—the conversation that was about to happen.

"Look, Benny, if you're mad about what I said earlier—"

"What makes you think that?" Benny growls accusingly, his emerald eyes finally meeting Ethan's. Something snaps in the seer, and he bites his lip in frustration.

"I don't know, Benny! Maybe it's the fact that you are acting like I did something terrible to you!" he says, instantly regretting it, but knowing it was too late to take it back.

Benny was beyond angry now. "Didn't you, Ethan? You know what you said. You know 'how I was raised'! Honestly, Ethan, how could you even say that?! You know what I've been through!"

"Of course I know, Benny!" Ethan exclaims, trying to keep his voice low in case of his parents waking up. "I'm your best friend! I know almost everything about you!"

" _Almost,_ " Benny hisses. "Apparently you don't know that I appreciate you more when you think of things before you actually say them."

Ethan is stunned into silence at the harsh words. Benny didn't even notice his hands were trembling until he looked down at his clenched fist, his nails digging into the palms of his hands.

"Good night, _best friend,_ " Benny says lowly, heading for the door and slamming it shut with a force that probably woke up his whole family.

Ethan knows he has to do _something._ It is _Benny_ after all, and he knows how sensitive he could get, and how vulnerable he could be at times.

He screwed up a lot this time, and he knows it. What he doesn't know is what he is going to do to make up for it.

…

His face nearly sticks into his pillow, the music drowning in a single thought louder than anything else. It rang in his ears like a mantra of despair and a hope that would never come.

" _Here lies Annabelle Weir; a mother, a friend, and a victim of a single thought. May she rest in peace and live in a happiness far greater than the one she lived."_

And now Benny's crying.

* * *

 _Slowing down when the light flashes yellow is an option, but speeding up to catch it is also one. The question of making it or not is a question unanswered, but what if we don't want to wait anymore?_

"Have you tried talking to him?" Sarah asks as she walks down the hall with Ethan, hoodie clouding over his face.

"I've texted him every hour last night before I went to bed, and called him three times this morning. I think he either muted me or doesn't have his phone on to begin with."

Sarah sighs. "You two are both massive dorks who don't know how to deal with their feelings like actual human beings."

Ethan cocks an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

Sarah shakes her head. "It's just that you aren't supposed to just _text_ him an apology, especially if it is such a big thing. Based on what you told me today, I am gonna say you owe him more than a digital 'sorry' and that's it."

"Hey, I didn't mean it, okay?" Ethan says defensively, turning a corner to his locker. Sarah rolls her eyes, leaning on the locker beside his and watching him twist his combination in.

"How do you unintentionally insult Benny's family?" Sarah says. "I didn't think you would say something that would twist your friendship like that."

Ethan looks down at the bottom of his locker with a sigh.

"I was caught in the moment, okay? The pressure of the situation really put some heat on me, and I snapped."

"You need to tell him you're sorry—"

"I did!" Ethan cuts in defensively.

"—in person." Sarah feebly adds. "You owe it to him, at least. That was kind of a dick move."

Ethan sighs in frustration, grabbing his textbooks and slamming the locker shut.

"He knows I didn't mean it! He knew that it didn't mean to be offensive! He was the one being such a drama queen about it—"

"Ahem."

Ethan and Sarah turn around to see Benny, standing in front of his locker that Sarah was leaning on. The bags under his eyes were purple, and his hair was a mess. He didn't look like he slept at all.

Ethan stands there, almost dumbfounded as Benny asks Sarah to move quietly. She takes a step to the side, and Benny wordlessly opens his locker, takes out his things, and closes it.

He takes a glance at Ethan's now sullen face and bites his lip from saying anything.

"Benny—" Ethan starts, but Benny just shakes his head.

"Don't," he snaps. "I wouldn't want to start a scene, as I am _such_ a drama queen."

With that, he turns around and leaves, the bell and his footprints ringing in Ethan's ears. Sarah looks at him with an almost pitiful look, and he bangs his forehead against his locker in frustration.

"I'm an actual dick," he moans. Sarah pats his back sadly.

"Just go to class and talk about it at lunch. Let some time pass before you try again," she says reassuringly. "Everything is gonna be fine."

"I hope so," Ethan says, and the two go their separate ways to walk to class.

...

Ethan's next two classes are the same, despite Benny being in both of them. Benny had requested to sit somewhere else for math class, and when he and Ethan met up as science partners for his next class, they were quiet. Ethan, of course, attempted a conversation, but Benny wasn't having any of it.

Lunch came around, and Ethan walks into the busy cafeteria with his lunch in his hands. His eyes scan the crowded room and spotted Rory, who is waving at him with a big grin. Ethan fakes a smile to match his, and sees Sarah and Erica sitting beside him. He's about to go up to them when he sees someone else at a table in the back of the room.

He looks at Rory apologetically, and he turns around to go to the table. Rory looks a bit lost, but by the looks of it, Sarah seems to be filling both of her fellow vampires in.

Ethan ignores it, trying not to think about how Sarah would be describing the situation—"Hey, don't worry, friends," she might say to them. "Ethan just said something to Benny that may have insulted his family. No biggie, because now they're fighting."

He instead faces his glare at Benny, who was quietly doing his homework. Ethan knows that he's seen him, but notices that he pushes his earbud deeper in his ear.

Ethan takes a breath and brings his tray to the surface of the table. Benny barely looks up, but Ethan doesn't care; he sits beside him anyway.

"Hey, B," he says, trying not to let his nerves affect his voice.

Benny grunts somewhat of a greeting, and returns to tapping on the edge of the table to the beat of the music blaring through his earbuds. He scribbles on the paper with a force that nearly tore the paper apart. Benny grits his teeth and tries his best to ignore him. Ethan sighs.

"Are you ever going to talk to me?" Ethan asks. Benny looks up, as if annoyed that this had to happen now.

"I don't intend on doing that now," Benny replies loudly. Ethan's head falls back, clearly frustrated at the lack of communication between the two.

"Benny, come on. Can we talk?"

Benny's earbuds fall out of his ears, and Ethan can hear angry music blaring from the small speakers.

"What is there to talk about, Ethan?" he asks rather angrily. "You insulted me. I'm mad at you. I don't want to talk about it until it eventually clears up and I won't be mad at you."

Ethan shakes his head. "Benny, this isn't something you can just 'clear up'. We need to talk about it. I don't want you to bottle up your feelings."

Benny's pencil was shaking in his hand, clenched inside his fist. Ethan could tell Benny was growing tense, but he didn't want to stop just yet.

"Ethan, I don't want to talk. This won't last forever, I swear, but I want it to happen for now. Can't you respect that?"

"Jesus Christ, Benny, you are such a baby!" Ethan ends up snapping. "I swear, you always run away from your problems like they aren't even there!"

Benny's eyes glaze over with fear.

" _Fucking useless piece of shit!"_

"I am trying to understand you, Benny. I really am. I just need to get inside of that damn head of yours and you need to be a little more open to recovery! I know the story of your family, Benny. That doesn't defy you!"

 _Crash. "I can see that your mother's stupidity was passed down to you, huh, brat?!"_

" _S-Stop."_

" _What? You're gonna cry?"_

"What now, Benny? Are you gonna cry again?" Ethan's voice is barely a whisper in Benny's head of screaming voices. "Can't we try to compromise something? Why can't you just work towards a resolution with me instead of running away?!"

Benny feels tears dribbling down his cheeks. Ethan realizes and sighs.

"Look, I'm sorry for snapping, but—"

Ethan's hand goes up.

 _Slap. A cold hand against his wet cheek._

 _Blood._

 _Tears._

 _Screams._

 _Benny screams,_ which makes Ethan lower his hand from the threads of his hair. People are staring, and Ethan is stuttering.

But that's nothing to Benny. The voice is barely audible, and all he can hear and all he can see was red.

He grabs his laptop and bolts, leaving everything else, and the once quiet and shocked students in the cafeteria buzz with noise once again.

And with that, the once slow day screeched to an abrupt stop.

Ethan finally broke down in tears, the three vampires now hovering over him, but their faces were blurred with his tears.

His apologies to no one in particular come out as forlorn whispers; _he's such a fucking idiot._

* * *

 _Too late. Everything screeches to a stop at the red light; fucking piece of shit._

Benny isn't turning around; he couldn't give two craps about the amount of homework he'll probably miss.

He wishes he did though, and he wishes that he can go back and turn around to face Ethan again; he could probably tell him that he was sorry, and he could probably pretend that nothing happened to begin with. He was quite good at that.

Instead, as if it was a programmed act against him, he was walking to Whitechapel's only prison.

Benny doesn't want to be going to the place he has avoided for nearly a decade of his life, but he felt as if he was on autopilot; his feet moved as fast as his tears, and he hastily wiped them onto the back of his hand.

" _What do you mean 'I like him', you faggot?"_

" _D-Dad, it's true, I think I like him more than a friend. H-He cares about my feelings, an-and_ — _"_

" _Absolutely pathetic!"_

It was like he wasn't even there. It was like he had a frightened reflex to run to his father in times of need, but he knew it wouldn't be an act of support that he would receive.

His hands touched the silver handle, and sucking in a breath, he pulled the door.

His mouth was moving on his own and the words he spoke to the receptionist was not his own. The receptionist rose an eyebrow at the name, muttering, "he hasn't had visitors in nearly ten years," and gave Benny some directions he could barely comprehend.

He was checked at the door before walking in, and the police officers tried to avoid reacting at the name he murmured. They let him in, telling him that next time he should come in advance, _but he doesn't fucking care;_ it's not like he is going to come back—

His train of thought stopped in its tracks at the sound of the door being slammed closed.

 _The door slammed closed, and all six year old Benny could hear was the screams of his mom. His dad was yelling at her, and the sound of a harsh hit to soft skin made him yelp._

Benny jumped slightly at the noise.

He was alone in the small, grey room. His eyes wander, and he notices rows of chairs in front of a long counter, with small windows embedded into the wall. Some sort of wooden barrier separated each window. Beside the windows are a telephones, and on the other side of the glass mirrored the same thing.

A single light hung lazily on the ceiling, moving at every step Benny took. He pulled the chair back and sat down, scooting up so that his legs would graze the bottom of the desk's surface.

He glanced at the door on the other side of the glass that was slightly open; he was the only one in the room. Surely this couldn't be a bad thing, right?

 _He was alone the night his mom killed himself._

 _He was in his room, quietly recovering from a panic attack behind his bed, and he heard a shriek. He jumped, and immediately heard his dad's footsteps race out the door._

 _Benny shot up, and ran to his door. He pressed his ear against the wooden surface and heard sirens._

" _I DIDN'T HURT HER!" he heard his dad scream over sirens. Benny covered his mouth._

" _SHE WAS FUCKING DYING!" Benny listened closely to the mutters of his neighbours and what sounded like policemen._

 _His voice quieted down, as if he was told to do so. His voice still sounded so angry._

" _Of course she would say that! She's dead! Dead people say absurd things!"_

" _The bruises?!" one of his neighbours_ — _Benny recognized the voice as Mrs. Lupton who lived next door; God bless that kind soul_ — _yelled back. "I was always suspicious of you? And where's your son, Benjamin?! Don't tell me you hurt that poor boy too!"_

He watches as the door on the other side of the glass window swung open. He did his best not to look too interested, but he couldn't help it.

Two police officers stood behind his dad, despite the murmurs of, "leave us alone" from his dad. The gruff voice sent shivers down his spine.

His dad looked older. To be fair, he always looked older than he was; for a man in his early thirties, he always had grey hairs poking out underneath his black hair. He was taller, but slightly skinnier from when Benny last saw him; which didn't matter, since he was buff and big. His eyes were dull, and as he got closer, he could see that there were bruises littering his arms.

The police officers stand on each side of the door as if they were statues. Benny silently watches as his dad quietly shuffled to the chair on his side of the window. He sits down, and folds his hands on the surface of the counter, and Benny saw that they were handcuffed.

' _Click' went the handcuffs around his dad's wrist. Benny watched silently beside his two neighbours_ — _who were crying for God knows what_ — _as his dad was taken into the police car. His dad was slurring curses, and he tried his best to keep it together._

" _YOU FUCKING BRAT!" his dad screamed at the top of his lungs. "YOU COULDN'T JUST STAY THERE FOR ONE SECOND! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, I'LL_ — _"_

 _Mrs. Lupton covered Benny's ears with her wet hands. It made no difference, but Benny played along throughout the whole thing, trying not to flinch at the cold touch of the policemen questioning him._

 _He looked over to the paramedics, who were carrying a stretcher. Benny nearly broke down at the single strand of brown hair he used to cry into._

 _Dead._

Dead. That's what he looked like up close. It was scarier when he was a kid, but it was almost pitiful to see.

Benny and his dad spent a solid minute observing each other, as if his dad was doing the exact same thing he was doing. To his defense, the last time he saw him was when he was six years old,

And ten years can tear people apart.

Benny shakily picks up the phone, and puts it to his ear. His father almost smiles and does the same.

Benny's voice nearly cracks. "You don't always have to get in fights, _dad."_

His eyes are at his bruises, and Benny's dad knows it. He almost laughs, which gives Benny chills.

"I didn't think you'd show up, Benny-bear," his dad says, his voice crackling over the telephone's speakers. He lifts his hand to the window, as if trying to wipe the tears that were leaking out of Benny's eyes.

"It's been ten years, Benny. I'm out of here in a month. Did you know that?"

Benny wordlessly nods.

"So you waited ten years to see me?"

Not true. Benny had wanted to see his dad ever since he was arrested, but he either got too scared, or his grandma would stop him. Eventually, when he went into high school, he just stopped trying.

"I went to see you for closure," Benny says instead. Benny's dad leans back in his chair.

"Shoot," he says with a degree of confidence.

 _She went outside to the park in front of their house and shot herself in the heart._

 _That's all they told him. They told him she was dead on the spot, and her last words were to her husband, with some of their neighbours rushing to the scene. They all heard it._

" _You'll never hurt me again, fucking monster."_

"You are the reason I can't carry on, you know?" Benny's hand was shaking. "You're the reason I grew up with no parents to help me out. Can you imagine how grandma was feeling when she found out? She blamed herself for everything."

"The old hag was always a drama queen," Benny's dad replies slickly. His smile was sickening, and made Benny want to say a spell and shatter the glass into every part of his dad's skin.

"You _ruined_ me," Benny said, his voice cracking at the words. "I never moved on. You're the reason why everything people say reminds me of that _fucking night._ You're the reason why I couldn't just forgive _him!"_

His dad's eyebrow cocks up. " "Him'? Is this the same 'him' from—"

"Yes, dad." Benny's words grit out of his teeth, trying to keep it together. "Yes it is the same 'him'."

Benny's dad closes his eyes with a disappointed shake of his head. Benny knew that nothing could go up from here.

"You were six when you told me that," he says. "I thought you were being delusional. You are actually a fag?"

Benny couldn't take it anymore. "Dad—"

"No, seriously, _really?_ That's an actual disappointment to hear. Does the boy even know?"

Benny shakes his head. Benny's dad _laughs._

"You're kidding. Then all my worries are gone; of course the boy doesn't like you back. Now I see what this actually is; just an infatuation that you never wanted to let go of."

" _STOP IT!"_ Benny screams. "Whatever we had is good as dead _because of you!_ He unintentionally brought something up that could seem completely harmless to a normal person and I couldn't fucking hold it together for a second because _you were the one who raised me!"_

 _That's what he told the big, scary detectives._

 _A six year old in an interrogation room, a single light illuminating the grey room. The detective sat in front of him._

 _He asked, "How were you raised?"_

 _He answered, "My parents."_

 _And broke down._

Benny was breaking down. His hands were shaking, his lungs shrunk, and his sight was blurry with tears. Benny's dad didn't do a damn thing.

"Now I see why you didn't come for ten years," he says. "Oh man, when I get my hands on you in a few months—"

Benny's dad pounds his fist into the glass. Benny jumps.

 _He hated his mom for a while; deciding to leave and not bring him with her was an act of evil to a six year old's mindset. But when he realized that she was gone, and he was going to be gone, he finally saw the light of the situation._

 _It was over; but not for long._

Benny slams the phone back on its receiver, and nearly falls back. He manages to stumble out of the chair, knocking it down in the process, and staggered out of the room. The two policemen watching the whole thing unfold went and got his dad, despite him trying to break down the windows.

He was going to get him.

A few months, and he'd find him again and take everything away from him. He would be useless. Even if he got good at magic and managed to say a defense spell against him, nothing would stop him.

 _His dad grabbed his wrist and pulled him closer the night before it happened. Benny's child-like eyes widened, beading with tears._

" _I'm the one in charge, got it, brat?! I will always know what you're up to, and will always make sure_ — _"_

"—you are punished for it." That's the only thing that was going through his head. His dad was going to come back for him once he got out, and he is going to punish him for putting him in that jail cell for a decade.

" _Just"_

"You."

" _Wait."_

Benny turned around. Who had said that? No one was outside other than himself and a few civilians.

Perhaps it was a passing conversation. " _You_ are cool!" or "Are _you_ going to the supermarket?" Maybe that's all he heard.

Or it could be a threat.

Panic rose in his throat and nearly came out as bile. Benny gagged, leaning on a tree to catch his breath before he could pass out. He was on the edge of some sort of panic attack; he could feel it. His throat became hotter and hotter until it felt like it was on fire, and his lungs felt like they were collapsing, shrinking into a small capsule. Air was running thin, and his eyes were glazed with an indescribable pain.

Then he felt it.

 _His dad grabbed his wrist and pulled him closer before it happened._

Something grabbed his wrist and pulled him back.

Benny's screams were muffled by someone's cold palm, and they pulled him to the area where all the garbage cans were in the back of the prison. Hand still on his wrist, they pulled him with an almost inhumane force and pinned him against the wall. Benny nearly groaned at the pain, and he opened his eyes to see who was in front of him.

"Jesse?!" Benny exclaims in shock, pushing him back. To his surprise, Jesse stumbles back, nearly falling. He looks up at Benny with a toothy smile.

"Miss me, spellmaster?" Jesse whistled. "I saw you walk into the prison. I was there once, actually; stole a few diamonds from the local museum. Of course, they don't remember that."

It made Benny sick to hear his voice. "What the hell are you doing here? I thought we killed you."

"Yeah, but then you smarties decided to use the Cubile Animus to get whatever the hell that rampaging soul was—he was taking so much room in that damn thing, and the box is smaller than you'd think. I couldn't stand more millenniums with that thing, so I just left when it was still open."

Benny grits his teeth; they were such idiots.

"You are idiots," Jesse says, as if hearing Benny's inner torment. "I'm honestly surprised you didn't just bury this thing after the chaos that happened before. Whatever; you were always morons to me."

Benny notices that Jesse is still hunched over.

"You're weak," he says, more dumbfounded than having any tone of cockiness. His mind was blank of anything he could use against the old vampire. Jesse grins, pinning Benny into the wall.

"I am," he says, "so maybe you can help me out with that."

Fear begins to sink into his eyes. "W-What are you going to do to me?"

Jesse smiles. "Something that'll hurt for you, but will probably be splendid for me. Thanks for your sacrifice, dork; I'll make sure to go a bit easy on your friends."

Ethan.

 _Ethan was the only thing good in his life. He went to school with tears and bruises, and Ethan would always have a band-aid, an ice-pack, jokes, and a bright smile. He opened up to the younger boy as if he was his brother, and for a five-year old, Ethan was quite helpful. They became the best of friends; Ethan would never leave him._

He was going to leave him.

"I-I swear, if you touch Et—" He pauses, then corrects himself; " _Any of them..."_

"Doesn't matter," Jesse says, flashing his white fangs at him. "You aren't gonna live to see any of that."

Jesse grabs his wrist, and without any warning, he pierces his fangs into Benny's skin.

Benny screams for the second time that day, trying to pull away. Jesse nearly moans at the pungent taste of iron, and as he tightened his grip on Benny's hand, he continued to gulp gallons of thick blood down his throat.

Benny feels himself weaken at the second; all the blood was being drained from his body. He finds himself to slacken against the wall, closing his eyes when he catches a glimpse of his own blood on the ground.

Black dots fill his vision, and he fights to keep his eyes open, despite seeing how horrendously pale he was.

His mouth opens, as if trying to say something; _anything._ He would do anything to get away right now, but Benny felt himself slipping...slipping away—

Jesse pulls back, hissing in what seemed like pain. Benny gasped for breath, dropping onto his knees, with his hands pounding onto the sidewalk. His wrist was still bleeding, some blood dripping out and onto the concrete floor. His eyes wandered and he found himself looking at nothing but ashes and a small wooden pencil on the ground beside him.

' _Jesse's,'_ his mind tells him, as if it wasn't as confused as Benny was. The world looked drenched in red and black, but as he attempts to blink them away, he sees a Nerf gun and a waft of brown hair.

"E-Ethan…," he manages to say, mustering up the strength to look at him in the eye. "W-Why—"

"I went to go after you," Ethan answers bluntly, and Benny watches as he takes off his sweater and presses it against Benny's wrist firmly. He winces, squeezing his eyes shut.

"I know it hurts, B, but it's the only way to stop you from bleeding out." Ethan presses harder. "He bit into a vein."

Benny looks at him, clueless; was he still talking to him? He did his best to keep his eyes open, but nothing worked. He felt himself slump into Ethan's arms, and his friend gave him a gentle shake.

"Come on, B, you got to stay awake." Ethan's voice sounded like it was underwater. "The paramedics are coming."

"B-But—"

"They aren't your normal paramedics," Ethan cuts him off bluntly, and that's enough for him to take for now.

A sharp stab of pain shot through his body. He moans, whimpering indecipherable pleas, and felt the world around him go dark.

"Benny, please stay awake!" Ethan's voice was in some sort of tunnel. He shakes his head, but his grip around Ethan's wrist never loosens.

"D-Don't...l-leave," Benny says with difficulty. He can hear sirens now, and the sounds of footsteps running towards him.

Ethan looks aghast. "I would never."

Benny didn't know why, but he believed him; even after everything they've been through.

…

" _Do you want to be best friends forever?"_

 _Benny frowned. "Why just friends?"_

" _What do you mean?" Ethan looked at him weirdly, dropping his shovel onto his sandcastle. Benny shrugged.._

" _I-I mean, I like you."_

" _I like you too."_

 _Benny stood up. "Not like that."_

* * *

 _The red light seems like it's content with just staying there. This could be nice; just staying here could be nice. But moving on will not be a choice but a demand; we all go eventually._

They went to a "special" part of the hospital; one that is mostly confidential to other doctors, for the most part. The two paramedics that were at the scene kept asking Ethan questions: "Where was he bitten?" or "How did you stake him? In the heart? Chest?"

Ethan was dizzy. That was hours ago. He is beside the hospital bed at the end of it all, reminding himself how the series of events occurred.

The blood was the only thing he remembered, and it made him sick.

He isn't going to call the vampires; not yet. If what they said was true— _if Benny was actually going to die_ —he didn't want anyone else to suffer but himself.

Because it was his fault, really. He could've just kept his petty mouth shut instead of trying to start a fight.

Maybe it was him who was the crybaby after all. He reaches up to feel his wet cheek, sticky with tears. Every sound he heard was muffled by the static sound of Benny's heart.

It was stopping. No one needed to tell him that. There was just too much blood lost. If he could, he would've done more than just stake the damn vampire.

After all that they've been through, he was going to lose him. After all the adventures and arguments they've shared, he was going to lose him to one disagreement.

Fuck, he was a terrible person. If he walks out of this hospital with no one by his side, he knows that he would never be able to move on. Heck, now he's thinking if he should've been the one to get bitten. It's like fate was thrown off course; Jesse should've bitten him. Maybe Sarah could've saved him.

Benny had no one.

The static sound of the monitor was growing quieter and quieter. Ethan couldn't even breathe anymore; not without him.

" _It's okay," he reassured the older boy, who was cradling beside his bed with tears down his face. "Take some deep breaths; that's what daddy told me to do."_

 _Bad choice. Benny wouldn't stop crying, and his breathing became more shallow and more fast-paced._

 _He looked so vulnerable. Weak. He didn't know what to do that would make him feel better again; should he let him play with his Captain America toy? Maybe he'll put on Phineas and Ferb again?_

 _Ethan_ — _mind still so curious and with no knowledge at all_ — _brushed the hair ou_ t of the spellmaster's eyes and kissed him on his forehead.

"I love you," he whispers.

…

Now it was silent.

 _But the light flashes green again._

* * *

 _~The End~_


End file.
